luckyexwife
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,070
Jun 25, 2014 21:21:08 GMT
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Post by luckyexwife on Aug 1, 2018 15:52:02 GMT
This may seem silly, but how do you organize your pantry?
In order to budget better, I'm trying to take stock of what we have in the pantry, and the next 2 weeks I wanted to do meals from what we have right now, and limit my grocery to fresh dairy and produce.
What do you use to organize your pantry? My pantry is ok size, not small, but not huge. One side is shelves and the other is drawers. The shelves are deep, so things tend to get lost in the back. I do have some general organizing, such as all pasta together, all baking items together, etc, but I know it could be better. Any system or bins you use??
Thanks!!
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peabrain
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,588
Jun 25, 2014 22:18:04 GMT
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Post by peabrain on Aug 1, 2018 16:09:12 GMT
Have you looked on Pinterest at all? They have some great organization tips for pantries. Do you have an account there?
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schizo319
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,030
Jun 28, 2014 0:26:58 GMT
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Post by schizo319 on Aug 1, 2018 16:14:20 GMT
My pantry is super deep. I didn't want to spring for the pull out shelves, so I have most things in some sort of boxes/baskets. I also like to keep things on melamine trays so that I can slide an entire category of stuff out of the way to get to things that I don't need to get too often (extra condiments, seasonal baking supplies, etc). The trays I have are similar to this one: Trays. I pick them up for a few dollars when I can find them at discount stores. This is what I use for potatoes (on top) and pasta (on the bottom): organizer drawers
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:53:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2018 16:16:01 GMT
I've taken to writing dates on all the pantry items. The small printed dates are hard to see and I've tossed so much expired food in the past. Now, everything gets a date written in a sharpie and put in date order.
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luckyexwife
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,070
Jun 25, 2014 21:21:08 GMT
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Post by luckyexwife on Aug 1, 2018 16:21:02 GMT
Have you looked on Pinterest at all? They have some great organization tips for pantries. Do you have an account there? No, I don't, but, I keep getting directed there, so I might have to go make an account.
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 1, 2018 16:22:17 GMT
I have a large panty and all food items, except for spices/cooking oils, go in there. I also have a large kitchen, so I have plenty of cupboard space for dishes and such. I have it broken up by category and use plastic baskets in several sizes for loose items. I like it because if I'm looking for a snack, it's all in one spot. Need a side dish? All right in another basket. Categories: Paper goods-plates, napkins, cups, plastic utensils Snacks-crackers, nuts, etc Snacks-large Sterlite basket with loose bags of chips/individual servings Side Dishes-pastas, sauce, rice, noodles Canned items/extra supplies-a few canned items, plus extra olive oil, condiments, etc Baking-a basket keeps all the choc chips, dried fruit, coconut, etc together Baking Supplies-another basket with all my pastry tips, cupcake liners, gel dyes, etc Cereal/Breakfast-dry cereal, oatmeal, syrups Canning-I have a huge canning pot and store most supplies in there Produce-non refrigerated-sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, squash, onions, etc Bread-another basket for that I have these baskets: Sterlite BasketsIf you are short on space, consider using an organizer on the door. I've done that in other houses and it works well for reusable water bottles, snacks, storage bags, etc.
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Post by bc2ca on Aug 1, 2018 16:53:41 GMT
Technically I don't have a pantry. I do organize all my cupboards by using baskets. I have: - pasta basket
- rice/couscous/quinoa/bulgar basket
- 2 spice baskets
- baking ingredients (except flour/sugar)
- baking tools (muffin papers/cookie cutters/candles)
- specialty flours (almond/corn/flax/oats)
- nuts basket
Crackers and cookies are on a shallow shelf and easy to keep organized. Canned goods have a shelf in the garage and I usually only keep a couple of regularly used items on hand. I like these baskets from The Container Store.
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Post by lizzy on Aug 1, 2018 17:10:50 GMT
I have put containers of coffee or other similar items that I stockpiled along the backs of the shelves so that other things are more towards the front of the shelves and nothing gets lost back there. I know that the coffee and other stockpiled items are back there, so they don’t get forgotten, and I’m able to see the rest of the stuff at the front of the shelves a lot better.
I also organize my shelves by types of item. For instance, all canned veggies go together, canned fruit goes together, Mexican food goes together, condiments go together, et cetera. I’ve also labelled the containers that the foods are in if they’re in containers, and I plan on labelling the shelves as soon as I have new shelves installed in my pantry (This month!).
I do label some food with the date I’ve bought it, but not all. That’s also something I plan on doing once my pantry is re-done. I’m going to label everything with the date purchased.
I also have a meal plan, so I know how much of each item I’m going to use within a certain amount of time. That’s very helpful for avoiding waste. If I know I’m going to make chilli twice in the next two months, then I know I don’t need to stockpile 14 cans of beans and 18 cans of tomatoes. A couple cans of each will do.
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peabrain
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,588
Jun 25, 2014 22:18:04 GMT
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Post by peabrain on Aug 1, 2018 17:20:22 GMT
Have you looked on Pinterest at all? They have some great organization tips for pantries. Do you have an account there? No, I don't, but, I keep getting directed there, so I might have to go make an account. Huge time sucker. But it can be useful.
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Julie W
Drama Llama

Posts: 5,209
Jun 27, 2014 22:11:06 GMT
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Post by Julie W on Aug 1, 2018 17:30:53 GMT
I don't have a pantry so I just use two upper kitchen cabinets for these items. I'm not the most organized, but I do like the pop containers by OXO and use those for flour, sugar, etc. Also I have a large POP container where I keep all my extract and food coloring bottles - I found they were so tiny and hard to keep organized! Also I have smaller lazy susans in my cabinet where I keep all my bottled sauces, seasonings, oils, etc. Helps a lot.
Good luck!
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Post by gmcwife1 on Aug 1, 2018 17:35:45 GMT
I don't have a real pantry, just a large stand up cupboard that we bought to use as our pantry. The top shelf is all our pastas because I like having different shapes on hand and buy them when they are on sale. Then I have all my soup/chili making supplies together on the next shelf. I also have beans and veggies together on a shelf. So I guess I group my items by how I use them
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Post by hop2 on Aug 1, 2018 17:52:03 GMT
That is one thing I will miss when I move next month we have a super great pantry. There are 5 deep shelves and they are all drawers Top shelf is backing & pasta Next shelf is canned goods & all bottled things ( sauces, oils dressings) Middle shelf is kid snacks Lower shelf is plastics,forks, wraps, garbage bags, & lunch boxes Bottom is juiced & dog food bin.
The stuff is arranged left to right and I pull out the shelves to put new stuff in the back when I’m unpacking groceries.
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Post by keesha on Aug 1, 2018 18:19:22 GMT
A helpful thing I started doing is if you have a recipe you make regularly group those supplies together. For example: a package of spaghetti with cans of tomato products needed. I make salsa using canned products year round and have whats needed stacked together so I see how many batches are there. Then you don't have to think about 3 different items and do the match when making a shopping list.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:53:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2018 18:21:12 GMT
I've taken to writing dates on all the pantry items. The small printed dates are hard to see and I've tossed so much expired food in the past. Now, everything gets a date written in a sharpie and put in date order. This is brilliant
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:53:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2018 18:23:43 GMT
Have you looked on Pinterest at all? They have some great organization tips for pantries. Do you have an account there? No, I don't, but, I keep getting directed there, so I might have to go make an account. Not the best place if you have a lot of actual food in your pantry.
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Post by dewryce on Aug 1, 2018 18:33:09 GMT
I don't have a real pantry, just a large stand up cupboard that we bought to use as our pantry. The top shelf is all our pastas because I like having different shapes on hand and buy them when they are on sale. Then I have all my soup/chili making supplies together on the next shelf. I also have beans and veggies together on a shelf. So I guess I group my items by how I use them Excellent advice! We can give you category examples, but if that is not how you (OP) think to group things, it won't be much help. For example, arrowroot powder could go in baking but we almost never use it for that, it is a thickener and gets stored with other cooking supplies. I love the idea of soup/chili making being a category for you, I think many people could do the same for sauces. I will say, figure out what you step into the pantry for the most frequently and out those categories closet to the door. For example, oils & vinegars & spices are some do our most often used items and would get the prime real estate. Throughout, put frequently used items around eye level and right below, less frequently on top shelves (or floor if you use that). Don't buy any containers until you've had your pantry organized for a while, see if you like how things are grouped. Remember, do what you think will work for you and if you're wrong, you can always change it. Keep a pad of paper and pen by the door, write down when you have a hard time finding or storing something or anything else that is a PITA for you. When you reorganize try and address all of these issues. Do do you meal plan? Consider a shelf to put items that are about to expire on, as you come across them so that you don't forget about them. When you meal plan you know to look at this shelf and work in the foods. And when you come back from the grocery, anything specifically for that week's meals could also be stored there. A sort of prep area.
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Post by Lovebug2867 on Aug 1, 2018 18:46:53 GMT
I have a large Pantry where we keep all our food it's the size of a small room shelves on 3 walls our upright freezer is in there and a pegboard on the fourth wall that has all my candy molds) it is so unorganized so I'm no help. I do have it all sorted kind of by food type like all baking stuff is in one section vegetables are in one section Etc but it's not working for me. So thanks for this post hopefully it'll help me.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Aug 1, 2018 19:20:01 GMT
I don't have a real pantry, just a large stand up cupboard that we bought to use as our pantry. The top shelf is all our pastas because I like having different shapes on hand and buy them when they are on sale. Then I have all my soup/chili making supplies together on the next shelf. I also have beans and veggies together on a shelf. So I guess I group my items by how I use them Excellent advice! We can give you category examples, but if that is not how you (OP) think to group things, it won't be much help. For example, arrowroot powder could go in baking but we almost never use it for that, it is a thickener and gets stored with other cooking supplies. I love the idea of soup/chili making being a category for you, I think many people could do the same for sauces. I will say, figure out what you step into the pantry for the most frequently and out those categories closet to the door. For example, oils & vinegars & spices are some do our most often used items and would get the prime real estate. Throughout, put frequently used items around eye level and right below, less frequently on top shelves (or floor if you use that). Don't buy any containers until you've had your pantry organized for a while, see if you like how things are grouped. Remember, do what you think will work for you and if you're wrong, you can always change it. Keep a pad of paper and pen by the door, write down when you have a hard time finding or storing something or anything else that is a PITA for you. When you reorganize try and address all of these issues. Do do you meal plan? Consider a shelf to put items that are about to expire on, as you come across them so that you don't forget about them. When you meal plan you know to look at this shelf and work in the foods. And when you come back from the grocery, anything specifically for that week's meals could also be stored there. A sort of prep area. All that scraproom reorganizing is finally paying off for me
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Post by dewryce on Aug 1, 2018 19:41:44 GMT
All of y'all talking about walls and drawers and even appliances in your pantry are making me so jealous! I have a small coat closet for mine. Very small, not much wider than the door.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Aug 1, 2018 20:05:55 GMT
All of y'all talking about walls and drawers and even appliances in your pantry are making me so jealous! I have a small coat closet for mine. Very small, not much wider than the door. That would be our laundry room A stackable washer and dryer in a tiny closet!
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Post by dewryce on Aug 1, 2018 20:13:18 GMT
All of y'all talking about walls and drawers and even appliances in your pantry are making me so jealous! I have a small coat closet for mine. Very small, not much wider than the door. That would be our laundry room A stackable washer and dryer in a tiny closet!
Oh geez, we had that in our last couple of apartments, it was miserable!!! Better than a laundrymat for sure, but no where for supplies to be stored or to hang/fold clothes. And I like to do that right as I pull them out of the dryer and keep it going so nothing gets wrinkled. Our laundry definitely piled up more in those apartments because I dreaded doing it so much.
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mlana
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,525
Jun 27, 2014 19:58:15 GMT
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Post by mlana on Aug 2, 2018 4:54:27 GMT
I have 2 pantries, called small and big. LOL both are decent size, but the big pantry is more a space you can step into and the small pantry only has a foot or so beyond the shelves.
My little pantry is organized to the nth degree. When we first moved in, I bought baskets similar to the Sterilite ones someone posted above. These baskets had tracks that you screwed into the shelf so they could slide all the way out. By chance, the baskets run the full depth of my shelves. Each shelf hold 3 large baskets and 2 narrow baskets. Each basket is labeled so my family can help put away groceries. I have 3 shelves with these baskets on them. The other 2 shelves are hard for me to reach. I have IKEA rolling baskets on one shelf and I can lift it down fairly easily. I use it to restock items that I put in smaller containers. I have two of these rolling bins plus a larger covered bin on the floor under the lowest shelf. Both doors have organizer racks on them.
My basket categories are: Canned vegetables (mostly tomato products) Fruit (jellies, jarred fruit/ condiments Prepackaged side dishes - Uncle Ben’s rice, etc Sauces - pasta, enchiladas, salsas International ingredients - coconut milk, chilies Noodles/pastas Baking add-ins Narrow basket 1- Asian sauces -soy, mirin, Narrow basket 2 - syrups, big salt containers Narrow basket 3 - items stored in Mason jars- nuts, seasonings Space without narrow basket - tetrapaks of chicken broth
Our most frequently used pastas and a manageable container of rice are stored in a similar basket in a cabinet near the stove.
My big pantry has built in shelves in 2 sizes. One wall has shelves just 2 quart size mason jars deep, the other wall has shelves about 18” deep. Most of the 3 bottom shelves in this pantry hold my kombucha, vinegar, extracts, and booze. The upper shelves hold seldom used appliances and dishes. I have a big container of flour in there as well. The door has 2 racks on it where I keep various household supplies and hang my onions and potatoes. I have used old baking sheets under some of the things stored on the shelves so I can slide them out and reach the items in the back. The shelves are about 3/4 the length of the baking sheets deep, so it also extends my storage space a bit.
I will admit that, while both areas have always been fairly well sorted, an infestation of pantry moths is largely responsible for just how neat and clean everything is now. I’ve taken everything out and scrubbed every surface at least 4 times in the past 2 years as I’ve battled these damn bugs. Thanks to a friend cleaning out her in-laws old farmhouse, everything the critters like is neatly stored in various sized Mason jars with tight sealing lids.
Marcy
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 3, 2018 0:52:22 GMT
My pantry is super deep. I didn't want to spring for the pull out shelves, so I have most things in some sort of boxes/baskets. I also like to keep things on melamine trays so that I can slide an entire category of stuff out of the way to get to things that I don't need to get too often (extra condiments, seasonal baking supplies, etc). The trays I have are similar to this one: Trays. I pick them up for a few dollars when I can find them at discount stores. This is what I use for potatoes (on top) and pasta (on the bottom): organizer drawersIf you don’t want to spring for pull outs, I would say to get some kind of trays or bins to put things in to make it easier to get at the things in the back. All of my kitchen cabinets have pull outs in them and it’s seriously the best thing ever.
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